Le Soleil et La Lune
by Esprit de L'eau
Summary: She was the sun, just like how he was the moon. Polar opposites. But opposites DO attract as Shinji finds out the hard way. AU, Ikarishipping, hints of AdvanceShipping and others


**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

A/N: FINALLY a fic which has another language other than Japanese. Major thanks to Rissychan who helped me translate the title and the French phrases for this fic. I thought I would try out something romantic once in a while.

Ok, to start off, a few notes:

- Theme: France  
- Reiji is a pet groomer.  
- Satoshi, Takeshi and Hikari were close friends in Western France Bordeaux and they travelled around the country as part of their life ambitions.  
- Satoshi's mother have connections all over France and sometimes sends Satoshi to collect things.  
- Shinji and Reiji live in Eastern France Lyon  
- the Gym Leaders have different careers  
- Satoshi is training to be an athlete trainer while Takeshi is learning veterinary skills  
- Hikari is studying to be a photographer  
- Shinji is under Reiji to learn pet grooming but secretly wishes he could take lessons in the trading market instead.

Also this is dedicated to my shipping community in SPPF. As an apology for not writing for so long, especially after I completed all those challenges and just stopped.

* * *

**Le Soleil et La Lune Part 1/2  
**

She was like a flame that draws moths to her. Her outgoing personality clashed with his icy exterior. At first glance, she looked nothing more like another stylish girl. Blue hair clipped neatly to the sides of her face, a white beanie hat sitting on her head wearing a dress with a short miniskirt looking a little from the Lolita fashion. Knee high pink boots completed the entire outfit. He thought he had died and gone to heaven. He thought that she must be an angel sent down for him. If God ever had pity for the legendary ice-hearted Shinji. They met quite normally. He was at a convention in Paris when he bumped into an old rival. She was with him, his rival and another friend of his. Shinji was there alone though. Reiji caught a fever that day and was forced to give up on going. His attention kept getting drawn back to the girl. Out of the corner of his eye he kept seeing flashes of her serene blue hair. His ear picked up anything she said and laughed. His eyes were drawn back to her almost every minute. Reiji would laugh his head off if he saw Shinji now. There was absolutely no way THE Shinji could fall for a girl. And here was physical proof that the theory was null. He left the place with thoughts of her in his mind.

When they met again, it was quite coincidental. He was in his hometown in Eastern France, in one of the tourist attraction districts. Reiji sent him there on an errand. At that time, he wanted nothing more that to go back, strangle his older brother and tell him to find Sumomo himself. But after his eyes found that familiar shade of blue, he felt that it was not such a bad thing after all. He went into Hyouta's shop with Reiji's message. She, and the other two came in as well. His rival picked a fight with him. Shinji found it old and degraded Satoshi instead. She came between two of them and said, "Can't you two knock it off for one minute?" He remembered staring into her ocean blue eyes. Perhaps unnerved by his staring, she asked, "What's wrong?"

His almost immediate response was to play dumb and say, "Who… are you?"

Maybe it was a default answer that he programmed himself to say. Or maybe it was instinct. The next thing he knew, she lost her temper right in front of his face while shouting non-stop. The tallest of the trio restrained her as she threatened to scratch him with her seemingly sharp nails. Hyouta made it clear that the no fighting rule was to be implemented immediately.

He never saw her again. Perhaps they were too different. Like how the sun and the moon complemented each other, but will never be together.

* * *

Hikari thought that if the winners on TV in the 'Campus Superstar' were considered hot, he would put those winners to shame. When she saw him at the convention, his bored eyes wandered through the booths, looking at the difference merchandise for sale. She only knew that he was Satoshi's rival. Satoshi went over to him, trying an attempt to talk to him normally. His eyes dropped the bored look and took on surprise instead but dismay soon chased it out. His violet hair was cut to fall in messy layers around his face and were long enough not to look like a boy's yet not quite like a girl's hairstyle. His face was masked by an emotionless expression which she was very sure not his true self. Satoshi left him standing there and went on to wander around. It was during the time that Satoshi and Takeshi talked that she found out his name. He was Shinji.

The days after that were nearly torturous. Hikari's mind was plagued by Shinji nearly around the clock. In the day she would fantasize about meeting him again. At night her dreams were infested by the violet-haired boy. And she was only ten, going on eleven. And for all Hikari knew, he could be a year older than her. Satoshi thought she was sick and tried hard to make her return back to her cheerful ways. Only Takeshi appeared to know the reason behind her sudden behaviour change.

They went to Eastern France a few months later. Satoshi's mother sent him there to find someone. Hikari was bored at home so she followed. Takeshi happened to be in the area. She saw him again, at the city of Lyon. Satoshi threatened to start another brawl with him. She jumped between them and yelled at them to stop. It was seriously getting out of hand. They argued non-stop each time they meet. Maybe it was the rivalry between them. Hikari never bothered to find out why Shinji treated Satoshi like he was someone from a lower class than him. To her, it was something she sensed was a sore subject for Satoshi.

After that, her training for her career intensified. She was kept busy for weeks. Weeks turned into months and months into years. Satoshi and Takeshi were busy with their work after that and never travelled around France as they once did. Because of her training, she never saw Shinji again.

* * *

He was now eighteen. Seven years passed since he last saw her. Reiji had pestered him recently to find a good girl of the opposite gender and settle as soon as possible. Shinji's first question was, "Why are you more eager than me about this matter? And I'm only eighteen!"

Reiji had answered, "I was afraid that your sexual orientation wasn't straight. _J'ai raison, n'est-ce pas__? _"

Shinji's utter disbelief made him leave the house immediately. The vicious slam of the door told Reiji everything about Shinji's answer to his statement. Reiji said nothing and went back to his house extension that served as his animal grooming center.

Shinji stalked through the streets with a black aura surrounding him. Those who knew him quickly stepped out of the way to let the angry teenager pass. After walking aimlessly for a few minutes, he finally took note of his surroundings. He was in one of the lesser known parks in the city. Looking at the group of young people running around the park, he was reminded of Satoshi prospering job. Who knew that he would be such a great physical education teacher? And his girlfriend even stared her own restaurant. Shinji briefly remembered seeing the brown-haired woman who owned it on TV who was interviewed during one of the delicacy hunters shows. Was her name Haruka or Hoshino? He had a gut feeling it was the first option. Turning away from the park roads, he saw a couple posing for wedding photos. The photographer, dressed casually in a white shirt and pink scarf, brown cap and deep blue jeans was adjusting the camera at a better angle to fully capture the moment. The brief flare of blue under the photographer's cap stunned him. When the camera captured the shot and the couple moved, the photographer turned around to suggest another pose. This time there was no mistaking that face. Not after it haunted him for seven years.

He stood under the shade of the tree and watched her at work. He did notice how her hair now resembled a boy's, it was so short to not even touch the collar of her shirt. He vaguely heard her say, "Thank you, that's all. I'll send you the photos within a week and you have to come down to the studio the select which ones you want to print out for your album."

The couple left and she carefully folded the tripod stand and stored into her case. Shinji walked up behind her. His shadow fell over her and made her look up. Her face lit up like a thousand stars.

"Shinji!!" she said. "It's been so long, _mon ami_."

Of course he still did not remember her name. "Who are you again?" was the first sentence out of his mouth. The next thing he saw was a bulky camera heading for him and then the ground rushed up to meet his face.

"My name is Hikari, _monsieur_," she said angrily. "Remember that."

He clutched his still-aching head and looked up at her. "Oh. What happened to your hair anyway? Did you slice it off?" he commented. The camera headed for him for the second time.

* * *

He found himself at an average restaurant with her. Her choice in food surprised him. He would expect her to order something light or lacking in a nutrient for the sake of figures. But she ate quite normally as he did. His head was still hurting after the camera hit him for the second time. She merely hid all her hair under her cap giving her a boyish appearance. Now her hair cascaded freely past her shoulders instead of being confined in the cap.

"I thought you'll be having stuff like _foie gras_ instead," he commented. She looked up at him, annoyance stood out clearly on her pretty face.

"Is there something wrong with me eating _macarons_?" she asked, her voice hinting hidden venom. Shinji felt that it was clearly a bad move. He returned to eating his _gratin dauphinois_.

After that she went back home. They split at the restaurant. Reiji questioned his brother's absence from the afternoon. Shinji answered that he had been catching up with a friend. After that they met quite regularly. He found out that Hikari moved to Lyon and is a full-time photographer at the studio nearby. He told her that he was helping out with his brother.

"I would rather be dealing with the stock market instead," he had said.

Hikari merely replied, "There's a high risk involved if you play in the market." He shrugged and said it would be fun in risks like that. He offered to show her around if she liked, saying it as indirectly as possible. Hikari gave him a weird look.

"What?" he said, unnerved by that look.

"I thought you didn't like Satoshi and anyone associated with him," she stated. "Why are you talking to me like I'm a friend or something?"

He could not bring himself to say "Because to me, you are something more."

* * *

Two years later, he still continued meeting up with Hikari. Hikari, on the other hand, did not seem to mind much but it kept bothering her for some reason.

"Shinji, are you this bored at the grooming center?" she asked. "Because you look like you could use a change of job."

He wanted to say 'I like being with you, that's why'. But Shinji's pride would never let him live it down if he said that. So he answered, "Who wouldn't?"

He got a surprise when February 14 rolled by and Hikari gave him a book. "It's not much but better than nothing," she said after Shinji accepted it awkwardly. "I didn't know what you would like so I got this instead." Shinji never quite understood why she would not look at him in the face and kept fiddling with her bag strap.

March 14 that year was arguably one of the worst days of his life. Because Reiji insisted he get Hikari something for White Day. "What is triple the value of a book, _little brother_?" Reiji asked the moment he stepped into the kitchen. Shinji's brain was not working well at the moment so he said, "Clothes." The evil smile that was slowly making its way across Reijis face spelt disaster. Shinji briefly thought that Reiji could be the next evil Alice of Wonderland if he tried.

He tried arguing his way out. And being the younger one _never_ helped. Reiji pulled him to the department store and forced him to start choosing. A vein twitched while he stormed through the racks. Seeing nothing in the clothes department, he went to e technical department. Finally he saw something that was worth it and threw it at Reiji literally. "That's it, I'm done here," he said and left.

* * *

He spent Black Day with Shuu and Shigeru. The sight of the black noodles soothed him somewhat. Shuu seemed peeved.

"Why the hell are we having black noodles?" he grumbled. Shigeru started eating his while Shinji stared moodily at his bowl. "And Shinji," Shuu said, turning his attention to the violet-haired teenager. "What's eating you?"

Shinji brought his hand up to his head. "I don't wanna talk about it," he answered. Shigeru finished swallowing and turned to him as well.

"You mean you're still thinking about that whole thing with Hikari a month back?" he asked incredulously. "I thought she said she didn't mind."

Shinji gave off an aggravated sigh.

_Flashback_

_Shinji stared at the package in his hand. It was downright embarrassing. And Reiji would not even let him use registered mail to deliver this. He looked at and stared at the door to Hikari's apartment. That was, until the door opened and Hikari looked out._

"_Uh… Shinji, is there a reason why you're glaring at my door?" Hikari asked. Shinji's mind snapped back to reality. He glanced at the package while trying not to look at her face. Instead, he shoved the package right at her._

_Hikari backed off as a reflexive action but the package stopped short inches from her face. She accepted it cautiously. She shook it lightly. "Thanks Shinji," she said. "Want to come in for a while?"_

_He went in out of courtesy. Hikari sat opposite him and unwrapped the package. Shinji was using all his self control not to look at the item or Hikari. Until he heard a sharp intake of breath from the owner of the house."What?" he asked._

_Hikari was holding up the set of camera lenses. He had seen them in the department store and just took it and gave them to Reiji. The lenses were ranged so that a photographer could change them to suit the occasion. Also included were some lens care equipment. Hikari was really stunned._

"_Wow…," she finally said. "You got this for me?"_

_Shinji nodded. "Reiji forced me to," he muttered._

_Hikari laughed softly. "I wasn't expecting this but thanks Shinji," she said, smiling brightly. "I don't mind lenses. But you really need to read a book about human psychology."_

_After that day, Shinji avoided meeting Hikari at all._

_End of flashback_

Shuu was laughing his head off when he remembered. "Oh yeah!!" he said. "Because for White Day, you get something for the girl herself, NOT for her belongings. Typical choices of White Day gifts are clothes, accessories and stuff like that. Lingerie is also an option but it's not recommended. You don't want to scare the poor girl."

Shigeru patted Shinji sympathetically on the back. The latter engaged another staring competition with his noodles. Shigeru turned to Shuu. "And for your information, the whole point of Black Day is to eat black noodles with your friends who are still single," he explained.

Shuu picked up his chopsticks with resignation while mentally cursing the creator of Black Day. "If so, why isn't Satoshi here?" he demanded. "It's not like he's already married although he spends time with his girlfriend. And that Takeshi, who is known for being rejected how many goddamn times, isn't here too? What is Kenji doing today? There's no work at your grandfather's lab as far as I know, Shigeru."

Shigeru went back to eating his noodles. "Satoshi, is not single," he explained. "As long as you have a girlfriend, it counts as being attached. Takeshi struck the jackpot I heard. Kenji… I'm not sure. Don't dwell on it Shuu. It's not getting us anywhere. Just eat your noodles."

Shinji pulled the bowl to him gloomily. He was not sure how he was going to face Hikari after that.

* * *

A/N:

_J'ai raison, n'est-ce pas_ - means 'I'm correct, no?' I think...  
_foie gras_ - made of geese livers according to the description  
_macarons - _not sure. I just took one of the words Rissy sent me  
_gratin dauphinois - _potatoes with cheese topping 8D

I split it coz it was getting too long!!! And thanks once more to Rissy. And I retained as much of the originality here although the country is not original. I'm not that fond of fics always being set in Japan so yeah… As for Black Day, there's more information about it in Wikipedia.


End file.
